Just as it did in its first meeting, the CSUN softball team seized an early lead. And just as it did in its first meeting, UCLA stormed back.

The No. 7-seeded Bruins pulled out another win over the Matadors on Friday evening, opening the NCAA Regional at their own Easton Stadium with a 9-1 victory in five innings.

Fifty days earlier, CSUN had held its own on its home field, grinding out a 10-inning dogfight before falling by two runs. Shooting to return to the Women’s College World Series for the first time in five years, UCLA made sure the rematch didn’t stay as close.

After UCLA gave up a home run in the first inning, the Bruins’ bats erupted in the bottom of the third, bouncing out three homers of their own. They took a 5-1 lead, then plated four more runs to end the game by mercy rule.

“We felt good about that inning in general,” said UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “It was our turn to kind of punch back.”

CSUN’s Zoe Conley wasn’t supposed to be an easy test. A high school All-American coming out of Richmond Salesian, she led her conference with eight shutouts, becoming the Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year as well as the Matadors’ first all-region pitcher since 1994 — two years before she was even born. When she saw UCLA in March, she gave up 11 hits, but lasted eight innings and struck out nine.

Her postseason debut was much shakier. She retired four of her first six batters before she began wobbling: a single to right field, then a four-pitch walk — loading the bases with just one out. Less than two full innings in, CSUN (41-16) began warming up a reliever.

Conley got out of that pickle unscathed after a fielder’s choice and flyout, but the third inning wasn’t as kind. In the span of 18 pitches, UCLA (41-16) connected for three round-trippers, each one more impressive than the last.

Ally Carda, the Bruins’ two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, was first up, skying a two-run homer to right center. Catcher Stephany LaRosa was next, sending a solo shot into right field. That gave her 62 in her career, moving her into sole possession of second place in UCLA record books. The woman she passed? Tairia Flowers (née Mims), who stood some 60 feet away as CSUN’s fifth-year head coach.

The third home run belonged to Mysha Sataraka, a booming two-run shot off the hitting cage roof behind center field.

“When we get kind of contagious, we can kind of put on some runs,” Inouye-Perez said. “I’ve seen that from this team.”

Making this all the more stunning? Before Friday, Conley had only surrendered six home runs all season.

“She kept us in the game at the beginning,” Flowers said. “She just lost a couple of pitches here and there.”

Added Carda: “It’s always tough when you give up a few and have the bases loaded.”

In the circle for UCLA, Carda pitched all five innings, striking out three and walking two. She gave up her lone run when Katie Hooper opened the scoring with a first-inning home run, one that tied CSUN’s single-season RBI record (56).

“I’d rather have it early than later,” Carda said.

The Bruins return to the diamond at noon today to face Texas. The Longhorns beat San Diego State on Friday, 8-3, and also defeated UCLA back in February.

Jack Wang covers the Chargers, the latest NFL team to relocate to Los Angeles. He previously covered the Rams, and also spent four years on the UCLA beat, a strange period in which the Bruins' football program often outpaced their basketball team. He is a proud graduate of UC Berkeley, where he spent most of his time in The Daily Californian offices in Eshleman Hall — a building that did not become earthquake-safe until after his time on campus.

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